


I'll bleed out for you

by EscapedRabbitBlueBell



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Blood and Gore, Eventual Gavin Free/Michael Jones, F/M, Fighting, M/M, Minor Relationships, More characters but less important
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-17
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-09 21:12:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4364342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EscapedRabbitBlueBell/pseuds/EscapedRabbitBlueBell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Gavin Volunteers, but he doesn't know what to do with the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly, I want you to acknowledge the fact that I've chosen to not use any archive warnings! But this is a Hunger Games!AU, so you could expect what's to come. (There will be no rape, I promise you.) The rating will go up eventually.
> 
> Secondly, I want to say that the only reason I posted this first chapter is because I got stuck writing this story, and I feel like I need motivation to continue it. So, if you like this story, please comment! It'd motivate me to write quicker, I've already been writing this story for over two years. (I know, man, I've got heavy writer's block. I really need your help.)
> 
> Thirdly, yes, the title is based off "Bleeding Out" by Imagine Dragons. I think that that song has some real symbolism in this story.
> 
> Lastly, I would like to thank Katrina a lot! She has been my rock in the heavy sea waters. She kept helping me over and over, and I couldn't be more grateful.

“Did you see Barbara last night?”

Gavin smiled at Dan. Of course he had, Barbara was the center of attention last night. But even if she hadn’t been, she would have been for Dan. There never had been another girl in Dan’s life. Not like Barbara. It was always about her, the beautiful blonde was the love of his life. Not his first love, though. 

“Did you speak to her?” 

Dan was quiet for a moment, then laughed. “Yeah, but she seemed not that impressed with me.”

“So still no luck.” Gavin looked behind his shoulder. He wanted to look at Dan while he’d said that, but the only thing he got to see was Dan’s familiar back. 

They sat behind each other, back to back, in their small wooden rowboat. They were not far off the shore, but far enough to only hear the sound of the sea. The usually loud market and other human sounds were muted here. Here they were, sat alone together on a quiet and peaceful sea, the sun reflecting in the water. 

People said these waters are endless. The sea would take your life before you’d find strange land. Gavin wondered if these rumours were true. He often dreamed of sailing the sea alone, going from blue skies to storms and back, discovering new landscapes and escape. He didn’t like the world he lived in, so he wished for a way out.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Dan asked Gavin.

“Yeah, I’m not worried.”

“Of course you bloody are. The great Gavin Free, the boy who cares about nothing and no one!” 

That wasn’t exactly true, and he knew Dan knew that as well. But Gavin laughed. “You aren’t worried either.”

“You sure know a lot more about my feelings than I do.”

“I’m your best friend, I know you better than my own arsehole.” He got a heartfelt laugh from Dan. Gavin could feel the laugh in his back. He smiled; he loved these moments.  
~~~~~  
Dan was late. Again. Gavin knew he shouldn’t feel responsibility for his friend, but he does. Probably came with the rest of his feelings towards Dan, Gavin thought sarcastically. 

Dan knew about his sexuality, and he was fine with it. He didn't care at all. They were just as good friends as before he told him. Gavin was happy with this. He couldn't afford losing his best friend, but then again, he hadn’t told him about his feelings yet. He didn’t know what would happen if Dan knew that.

Gavin looked around, searching for Dan. This was not the first time he'd been late. Last year he had been punished with cleaning up the market’s aftermath. The smell was almost unbearable; the smell of sweat, rotten fish, blood… Gavin had helped Dan, but he had to be sneaky, because if he was seen, punishment awaited him too.

“And what good would that do?” Dan laughed. “I would help you, then I’d get punished again, then you’d help me…” It was true. It would have been a cycle of cleaning up things. 

“Why are we doing this anyway?” Gavin asked. “Tomorrow there’s gonna be new fish, new sweat. This is useless!”

“There are a lot of things here that are useless,” Dan stopped picking up the remnants of the fish. He grew quiet. “The Hunger Games, for example.”

Gavin stopped as well. He looked around them, looking for someone who might’ve heard him. He found no one, but Gavin was still pissed. “You can’t say that! They might hear you, and-”

“And what, exactly? Look at what we’re doing. They are already handing out punishments like it’s nothing. You know it’s true.”

Dan was right. “You still need to be careful.” Gavin started cleaning up again.

He suddenly heard some commotion, so he turned to look. There was Dan, trying to get to his spot. Gavin tried to make eye-contact, but Dan didn’t see him.

He hoped Dan didn’t get chosen. Dan had potential, he was a good fisherman. His father was the captain of one of the best ships, and Dan is being raised as his successor. 

Gavin didn’t want Dan’s future to be thrown away by some rich ignorant assholes from the Capitol who cared more about clothes than people. He didn’t deserve to die. Dan deserved a happy life, full of joy and contentment. 

The presenter, Lio Dane, walked towards the microphone when the mayor finished his speech. He was always dressed in the colours of a tiger; even his hair was dyed orange with black stripes. Gavin didn’t know if it was because he acted like a hungry tiger, or he wanted to be seen as a powerful beast. Lio wanted success, fame, money, even though he presented for District 4. District 1 was the richest - and the best - of all, and 12 the poorest. 4 wasn’t as bad, you’d think, but it wasn’t enough for Lio. 

“Hello everyone,” Lio said, rolling the r in everyone. “What a lovely day, so far,” he grinned. Gavin looked up. It was a lovely day indeed, if this was not happening. Children died because rich people wanted entertainment. And no one is doing anything about it, the world doesn’t think the Hunger Games is a horrible, dehumanizing event. 

Gavin looked at the mentor for District 4: Gus Sorola. He was known for his crankiness, and he immediately knew if someone had chance to win or not. Gavin wondered what he would think about Gavin, but then he realised he didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to know Gus, he didn’t want to experience the Hunger Games. He just wanted to leave.

Lio went on with his speech. “I want you all to have a happy Hunger Games. And remember, fight for your life, before someone else does it for you." He laughed. Nobody in the audience laughed with him. Gus Sorola looked disgusted by Lio. The thing Lio said, that was his usual thing to say just before he got to the horrible part. It was his life motto.

“Ladies first,” Lio walked over to the glass bowl and grabbed a paper. He walked back to the microphone. “And the female Tribute for District 4 is…” he opened the paper and read aloud, “Barbara Dunkelman!" He was trying to grin, but it looked more like he was growling.

Gavin immediately looked at Dan. His eyes stood devastated, almost broken, but the rest of his face showed nothing. He kept his eyes on Barbara as she slowly walked over to Lio Dane. She seemed to accept her fate pretty well, but Gavin knew her too well to believe the act. He doubted Dan would believe it, too. Or anyone, for that matter. 

When she got up there, Lio had to ask the question, the question they always have to ask. 

“Does anyone want to Volunteer as tribute?”

There was utter silence, as always. No one, not even the family, wanted to tribute. It was very rare for someone to Volunteer. It was almost seen as an act of madness. 

Gavin looked over to Dan. His eyes showed determination, now. It was enough to make Gavin worry, because he had a suspicion what Dan is going to do. If that was true, well… He wouldn’t know what he, himself, would do. 

Lio was already back at the microphone, holding a small paper in his hand.

"And now, for the boys... Andrew Pierce!"

Gavin couldn’t enjoy the relief he felt when Lio said the name, because Gavin saw Dan hesitating. He was waiting for the right moment, Gavin realized. 

“Does anyone want to Volunteer as tribute?” 

Dan raised an arm in the air. “I Volunteer as tribute,” he shouted.

It seemed quieter than when there was no answer at all. Everyone stood staring at Dan, probably wondering why he was acting so lunatic. Dan was popular, liked all-around, and no one, except for a few, knew why he did this.

Dan was almost at the podium when Gavin realized what was happening. “No!” Gavin screamed, his voice cracking. “No, Dan!”

He couldn’t see his best friend, the guy he knew for all his life, who he grew up with and cared about so much, Volunteering as tribute and basically throwing his life away. His life full of potential and happiness. 

“I Volunteer as well!”

"Ooh, what's this? I see we have two Volunteers. Well, I can't blame them, Barbara is a very beautiful girl," the presenter laughed. "Come on up, you two."

Guards dressed in white, the Peacekeepers, came to Gavin to escort him to the stage. 

"What are you doing?" Dan whispered angrily to Gavin when they were within hearing distance of each other.

"I don't know.” And Gavin didn't. He absolutely didn't know what he was doing. The only thing he knew is he couldn't bare to let Dan enter the Games.

When they were both on the stage, Lio started grinning, the sharp teeth were showing. "Isn't this exciting! Two Volunteers, for the first time ever! We have to do the lottery again, only between you two. What are your names?" Just moments after they introduced themselves, a rather skinny looking man entered the stage, giving Lio a bowl with two papers. One with his name on it, the other had Dan's name. Gavin had to breathe slowly in and out. At this point it was just luck, Gavin figured. "And the male Tribute of district 4 is..." He drew a paper, and read out loud, "Gavin Free!"

Gavin felt his heart drop, although he knew this was on himself. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he knew it was Dan's hand. He couldn't look at him, afraid of what he thought of him now, so instead, Gavin looked at the floor.

He felt another pair of hands on both of his shoulders. He looked up and saw two Peacekeepers holding him. He let them guide him, because he was not ready to struggle. Gavin saw himself walking, guided by the two Peacekeepers, from a bird’s eye view. The steps he was taking were heavy, not easy. 

He was brought to a fancy room where he was instructed by another Peacekeeper. He could talk to his family and friends who came to talk for three minutes. Not any longer. He was very clear about that.

The first one to come was his granddad. He told him about that he was very proud of him, and said he loved him. Gavin's brother was next. It was almost the same conversation he had with his granddad, only Gavin asked him to take care of their old man. He figured they would have a stressful time ahead of them. Dan was the last one. The first couple of seconds consisted of complete silence and staring at each other. Then, Dan spoke.

"Why?"

There was a pause before Gavin responded with a grave, rough voice. "I think you know why."

"Yeah- yeah, actually I do. But I do not think that reason is worth Volunteering for."

"It's the same reason as you Volunteering for Barbara."

"B..."

They just looked at each other for a while. The silence wasn't awkward; it was tense. It was eventually broken by Dan, who took a deep inwards breath, and walked over to hug Gavin. They stood, hugging each other, which felt very short and like a whole life-time at the same time, until a Peacekeeper entered the room and interrupted them.

"Good luck, B," Dan said in his ear, and turned away. Dan wiped something from his face when Gavin walked away from him. He wondered if he'd been crying, but maybe that was his mind already playing tricks on itself.

"Bye, Dan.”  
~~~~~  
Gavin was searching for something to eat when he overheard a conversation between Barbara and Sorola. 

"In the Arena, don't bother to stick around with him," Gavin heard Gus say behind the other side of the door. Gavin immediately knew it was about him. He knew that guy didn't like him, but come on. There's no reason for him to be secret about it. 

"Why?" Barbara sounded confused. "He's Gavin, he's from the same District."

Gavin wanted to open the door, but he didn't like confrontations. He didn't really like arguing. He'd rather have that people would just chill out and hang out with each other. Everyone should like everyone. That would be amazing, but in a world like Panem, Gavin knew that that couldn't exist. And besides, he was a Tribute now. He will fight for his life in a few days. It's not the same as the situation right now, but this confrontation would be less tense than the one in the Arena. If he couldn’t handle this, how could he survive in the Arena? So, Gavin decided, he'd step into that room where Barbara and Gus were, right...

... now. 

Just kidding, that one was just a test. He'll go in one... two... three...

Bloody Christ. He couldn't do it. He couldn't manage just one hand movement. How could he win the Games?

The door was suddenly opened by a hot girl with fire red hair. She walked past him and Gavin is tempted to look back to her again, but Gus and Barbara were already looking at him. He’d been caught.

"Oh, there's the idiot," Gus sighed, filling his glass with something that looks like whisky. "I was just telling Barbara that she should stay away from you in the Arena, because you'll be getting killed soon there."

So, nothing secret about it, then. Alright.

Not knowing what to say, he defended himself. "I don't think I'm an idiot. Everything I say just comes out wrong."

That seemed to amuse Gus. "You're still a fucking idiot."

Gavin looked at Gus, and shrugged. He grabbed a beer - he started to love those since he tasted them - and walked away to the other side of the room. He then walked all the way to the end of the train, where their rooms were. He sat down on his fancy bed, and did nothing but drink his beer.  
~~~~~  
"Who are you?"

Gavin had woken up to a dude with a beard and a cap on. Gav sat up on a non-comfortable steel bed. He'd no idea how or when he got here.

"My name's Brian. I will design your clothes for tonight. Nice to meet ya," Brian said, shaking hands with Gavin. He probably saw that Gavin didn't believe what he said. "It really is nice to meet you. You don't seem like the other Careers. Not so arrogant, y'know."

Gavin didn't know whether he should take that as a compliment or not. "I don’t look like one of them, you mean?"

"Yeah. They have more muscles than you. Have you actually been trained to be a Volunteer?" 

"No. I haven't." Gavin said, looking the other way and clenching his jaws. Brian was minging him off. It didn't seem like he wanted to insult Gavin, yet he did. Gavin wasn't trained to be a Volunteer, a Career, because people thought he wasn't good enough. Gavin was sick of it. He changed the subject. "Any idea yet what I'm gonna wear tonight?"

"Oh yeah, it's gonna be spectacular."  
~~~~~  
Spectacular it was. He wore shoulder pads with spikes, supposedly indicating some kind of pufferfish qualities. His torso was practically bare, a fishnet covering it. The pants and cape were pretty cool, though, which he was happy about, but still, he couldn’t stop feeling like a massive douche lord. He felt much cooler than he should be, Gavin thought. He doesn’t have a lot of muscle, which makes his outfit look ridiculous, but the audience was happy. A happy audience makes a happy mentor, they said.

Barb looked way hotter than he did, though. His dark and spiky outfit reflected in her outfit. She was wearing a dark leather top, spikes on the shoulders, and leather pants. Her cape was black as well. She looked like a badass, he felt like a nerd. 

Gavin and Barbara were stood in a black wagon, three wagons ahead of them and eight behind them. Gav wasn't really paying attention to the audience or to themselves, but to the screen that showed the Tributes. He hadn't seen Tributes 1 and 2, because they rode behind them, but he saw 3. And man, the male Tribute looked tough as nobs.

The man - it had to be a boy, though - looked buffer than Dan. His arms were strong and because of his shoulders, he looked very big. Perhaps he was big, but Gav would like to have some hope for a couple of minutes or so, so he convinced himself that the boy was smaller than he looked. The girl beside him looked a bit like Barbara, but the hair was different. And tough. She looked tough.

God, why did everybody look tough as nobs?

When all the carriages stood still in a circle, the tributes looked up at President Snow as he held his speech. District 4 was one of the richest districts, it was loved by President Snow, but that didn't mean all people of District 4 loved him. They do not even like him, perhaps even hate him. But you can’t talk about that sort of stuff. They would know and you'd be executed within the next day or two. Gavin didn't like the President. He thought that he was a slippery piece of shit that has excuses for everything that he does. Of course he hadn't told anyone that, even though he trusted almost everyone in his district. Everyone knew everyone, and mostly knew what everyone thought of everything. So there was practically no need of telling each other their opinions.

But there was nothing he could do then. He only stood there, in a carriage, next to Barb. Snow was giving a speech, probably about the honor of being chosen and what a great event the Hunger Games is. They were not listening. At least, Gavin wasn't. Instead of paying attention, he was looking again at the other tributes. This time, he could take a better look.

District 1 had a guy with dark brown short hair with glasses. He didn't look strong: his arms weren't buff like the typical male from 1. The girl was blonde and, as Barb, looked pretty top. They both had gold armor on. The girl was dressed more provocatively than the boy, but Gavin wasn't complaining.

Then there was 2. Those two people did look tougher than 1. The guy had auburn curly hair and it looked like he was frowning. At who or what, Gavin didn’t know. The guy stood firmly, as if he was already prepared to face his enemy. He probably was, considering his district. And that was such a downer, for Gavin. He wanted to think he had a genuine chance of winning, but a guy like this reminded he had actually no chance at all.

The girl beside him had pure red hair. She was beautiful. She wasn't Gavin's type, but that's what she was: beautiful. She had also a friendlier face as opposite to the guy beside her, but she still looked very strong.

3 was... technical. As you'd expect. The guy was looking strong, despite it being a district of technology, but he looked very smart too. This is a guy you should be afraid of, Gavin thought. The girl, instead, looked not strong at all. She had black hair with purple at the ends of her hair strands and was standing close to the guy. She looked cute, but she did not look like she could kill some people. But then, impressions could be very wrong.

Gavin could not look behind him, so that was the end of looking at his fellow tributes. Starting to pay attention to his surroundings, president Snow was at the end of his speech. "... to you, my brave tributes," Snow said, "may the odds be ever in your favour."

Barbara leaned in as the carriages started ride again, and whispered sarcastically, "Yeah, right."

Yeah. That man with his silly and creepy white rose would say everything to contain his love of his people in Capitol. He was a sneaky old bastard, and Gavin would like to do something against his favour, for once. 

If only he could.  
~~~~~  
When he got out of the shower, smelling like salt - he used salty soap because it reminded him of home - he was, believe it or not, nervous. He didn't know what to do. 

Tomorrow was the first day of training, and then he would see everybody. Everyone he had to kill or get killed by, they are all in the same room. It scared him. And he was supposed to make alliances? Yes, he gets it, but he doesn't want to do it. He doesn't want to do any of this. But it was his own fault. He Volunteered. He made the choice. All for Dan. All for someone who didn't like him back. Not in the way Gavin wanted to be.

Gavin wanted a lot of things. A lot of things he couldn't have. Love, for example. He hadn't someone who he truly felt something for. He found girls and boys cute, but there were no real feelings. he wanted something real. He realized he couldn’t have that with Dan, and that broke his heart.

Only God knows when Gavin began to have feelings for him. He really doesn't know. It could be when they were little. It could be that exact moment he discovered it, that time in the lake, when they were fishing together. Dan was being silly, talking about wanting to be a fish, when the thought arrived in Gavin's mind.

I love you, his mind had said. It is saying it ever since.

But nobody said it ever to him. Not in the romantic I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you way. 

And now Gavin was going to die. Only in a couple of days. He was sure of it. He wasn't a strong fighter, not as strong as the rest. He wasn't good with swords, and if he used them, he always cut his hand or something else of his body. It wasn't just bad luck, it was him. He, who was bad and no fighter at all. He was no survivor. He was Gavin.

Somewhere deep inside of him, he already knew all of this. Perhaps that was the real reason why he Volunteered. Dan was going to Volunteer for Barb, and perhaps he'd realized that Dan had a whole life ahead of him. Perhaps Gavin knew he himself didn't, that he was worth nothing.

Gavin couldn't sleep. Not with these thoughts in his head. He went to the crazily designed kitchen, looking for something to eat. He found some honey cookies he'd never had before, and watched some TV after eating every single cookie. He eventually fell asleep on the couch with the TV still on. 

A draining day awaited him tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, I've started writing this story before Ray left, Lindsay and Michael got married, etcetera. 
> 
> Also, feel free to ask me or talk to me about some stuff I've written. I know I change some stuff from the Hunger Games universe, so if you wanna know more, hit me up.

First training never was never fun, Gus told Barbara and Gavin when they had breakfast. It was the first realisation your life will likely end soon.

During the whole meal, Gus had been irritated - _when is he not?_ \- and Barb had been asking questions which Gus gladly answered. When Gavin asked them, Gus was suddenly busy with eating or drinking. Or, sometimes, Gus wasn't even that polite: he'd look at Gavin, acknowledge that he'd asked something, but look away and ignore him.

It was driving Gavin mad. He would like to have equal chances with the rest of the participants in the Hunger Games, but he knew he was a lost cause anyways. His training was never as good as Dan, Barbara or the people from 1 or 2. They looked strong, and Gavin was... Well, Gavin was Gavin. He probably would get killed by tripping and bashing his head into a sharp stone rather than someone putting an axe in his chest.

Gavin was angry. He knew he hadn’t had as much fighting experience as the others, or isn’t as strong as others, but he’d at least try to survive the Games. He didn’t want to give up, just because some people didn’t believe in him. He wanted to show them that he was capable of _some_ things.

So he did, that morning. He went to that training hall, fully confident. When Barbara and Gavin arrived, they saw everybody was there already.

There was a hot, buff male in a training suit, clearly he had some authority. When he made eye contact with Gavin, he yelled: "Alright, everybody's here. Stand in a line and listen to me." He waited till everybody obliged to continue his speech. "My name's Blaine. I'm your trainer, and this is the training hall." He proceeded to talk about a few rules: you can't fight each other outside of the training stations; you can help someone with learning a skill… All useless rules Gavin didn’t bother listening to.

Bored, he looked around for a bit. There was some high rope thing where you were supposed to climb from one side to another, some giant black box obstacles with various heights, a small forest beside that station, with some tools on a table nearby. There were so many training stations in this room, Gavin wondered if he could even use them all in the few days they could train. There was a giant screen showing some weird pictures, a table with feathers and strings, a table with what he thought was paint on it. Then, there were the fighting stations. There were dummy's, targets, but also some holographic systems. In the middle of it all was a black, square platform. Around it were racks with weapons.

When Blaine stopped talking and everybody moved to a certain training area, Barbara stuck with Gavin.

"I know Gus doesn't like you that much, but please, try your best. Make friends with the others and show Gus that you are capable of winning," she said, looking at him with puppy eyes. "Please."

"Yeah, sure," Gavin smiled to give Barb some assurance. "Where you going off, first?"

"I kinda wanted to go over to the Gauntlet, because I want to show them not only 1 and 2 can do that shit." Without waiting for a reply, Barb walked off to where district 1 and 2 and a few other people were. It turned out that the Gauntlet was the big black box course. Gavin quickly followed her, suddenly not wanting to be on his own in the training centre.

There were only a few people trained to be a Career in District 4, and Barbara was one of them. So she could in fact show them that she was a badass, too. Gavin, not so much.

"You think you can do this?" the guy from 2 asked Gavin sceptically, the girl standing behind him.

Gavin sighed. Of course. It was just his luck to be confronted sooner than Barbara. Gavin wanted just to look at her performance and then walk away. He did not want to participate himself.

"Of course I can," Gavin scoffed. If he wanted to show people that he wasn’t totally useless, he had to take any chance he gets offered.

"Yeah? Show us then," the guy said with an amused smile on his face.

Gavin had no idea what he was doing. He had seen the scrawny guy from 1 jumping on the boxes and getting to the other side of the course, so he knew what to do, but God, Gavin is not fast nor agile.

He took a breath, but did it so subtly it was impossible to notice. He wanted to impress them: the Careers, the other Tributes, Barbara. He wanted to show Gus that he wasn't a failure.

Gavin started jumping across the black boxes. It was tiring, because the only muscles he had were in his arms and his back from fishing. Now he had to run and jump, concentrating on not falling. In the corners of his eyes he saw Barbara looking at him, a worried expression on her face. Suddenly, he had to jump on a much higher box than he currently was on. He almost reached the higher box, _almost._

His foot didn’t reach the platform, so he tripped forwards. He banged his head onto the next box and because there are gaps between the boxes, he fell in between two. Gavin landed weirdly on his one ankle. He felt a heavy pain shooting through his leg.

Then he heard laughing. There were only a few people getting closer to him, of which was Barb, but he heard a lot of different voices laughing. Two stuck out the most, though. When he looked, he saw it were the guys from 1 and 2.

"Gavin, are you alright?" Barb asked, her expression half-worried, half-laughing.

"Yup," Gavin said, holding his anger back. "I'm fine. Terrific."

It was not a lie, not really. His ankle hurt like hell and he was ashamed and disappointed, but it was funny at the same time.  He wanted to laugh with the others, but it turned more into a grimace.

"No, you're not."

"Barb, I _am_ ," he tried to reassure her, "it only hurts a bit now, but tomorrow it's all better. Promise." He looked at her, trying to see if Barb believed it. She nodded, but Gavin still thought she knew better. Gavin smiled a bit. "Now help me up."

While helping Gavin up, Barb whispered into his ear, "Dude, not half an hour in and you scored a point with Narvaez and Jones. Way to go, dude." She smiled at him.

Gavin looked at her amazed. "You know their names already?"

"Uh," Barbara looked a bit like a child who got caught stealing a fish from the market. "Nah, I just talked to them. They told me their names. They are friendly, so friendly. Yeah."

"You're lying. Tell me, Barb. Is it Gus? I bet it’s him."

Barbara looked guilty as she sighed. "Yeah, it was him. He told me all about the other Tributes last night."

"What?! How could he do that? I want to be bloody alive after all this crap, too!" Barb shushed him. "Don't shush me! He can't-"

"Shut the fuck up, Gavin," Barb said, and immediately smiled to her right. Apparently, 'Narvaez' and 'Jones' had walked over in the middle of their quarrel, and Gavin hadn't noticed.

"We interrupting something?" Jones asked.

"No, you aren't," Barb answered.

After a few seconds of silence, Narvaez asked Gavin, "Hey dude, you alright?"

"I'm fine," Gavin mumbled grumpily. "Excuse me."

Gavin tried to walk away like a normal person who hadn’t just landed 150 lbs on one ankle to another training station. Turned out, walking was more difficult that he'd thought. But, eventually, he arrived at the fishing station. There was a beautiful lake in the corner of the modern training centre. It looked a bit out of place, just like the small forest at the side of the room, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Not as beautiful as the one at home, with Dan, but still... he liked it.

He saw fish swimming in the blue clear water. He recognized a few, like the beakfish, beefish and the creeperfish, but a few he didn't. There were bright coloured fish, but also fish that you could barely see. They all had different sizes, and Gav was just fascinated with some fish he had never seen before. He knew about them, though. He knew about all of the fish, but some just didn't live in his area. But there were always stories and books to read about other creatures of the water, and Gavin happened to have a book like that at home.

Gavin grabbed the fishing rod and sat on the grass hill. He threw the rod out and watched the water's movement. He watched the beautiful circles that followed each other, until it eventually stopped. He never got to see those circles. At home, they have a wild sea. Sometimes it's quiet, but often the waves are big and their force is strong. They have an off piece of land, though, and behind it the wind disappears, so there’s no wild water. That's where a few delicious kinds of fish live. That's also Gavin and Dan’s favourite spot whenever they had fish duty together.

He sighed as he thought about Dan again. It's only been a few days but it's still enough to miss him. Gavin had seen a lot of things here and he wondered what Dan would think of it or say about it. Gavin knew, though. Dan would find his outfit of yesterday ridiculous and, if he was here, would make a few jokes about Gav being gay. Then he'd make certain he hadn't hit a sour spot and would offer something delicious, like tuna, to Gav. He would accept, and they would share the food, staring at the sea and the horizon. The orange sky and blue sea was a sight Gavin was in love with.

"You do know you let a fish go, right?"

Gavin jumped at the sudden voice and looked up to see a guy he had seen before, but he didn't really know which District he came from, and certainly not his name. The guy had a moustache which made him look older, and it made Gavin wonder his age. "Of course."

"Dude, no, you didn’t. You and your mind were as gone as District 13."

Gavin would say something back, to prove that he was paying attention, but his ankle - and dignity - hurt. So, he only shrugged. Then, the guy extended his hand. Gavin shook it.

"Geoff Ramsey, District 9," Geoff said. Just when Gavin wanted to introduce himself, Geoff spoke first. "And you're Gavin Free from District 4, I know. Do you have alcohol with you by any chance?"

"Uh," Gavin was a bit stunned. "No. Isn't alcohol illegal?"

Geoff laughed. "Yeah, it is. For us: ‘The Tributes’,” Geoff said those words mockingly with his hands quoting them. “But that doesn't keep me of making my own beer."

"Beer? Wait, I have drank _alcohol_?"

"You didn't know beer had alcohol in it?" Geoff looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "You poor, poor bastard." Geoff grabbed a fishing rod, sat down next to Gavin and threw his fishing line into the lake.

Gavin looked at the way Geoff was holding the fishing rod and gasped. "You're holding the rod totally wrong, you silly mong!"

"You what? _Mong_?" Geoff started laughing.

"Yeah," Gavin mumbled. "Everybody knows that word, right?"

Geoff didn't say anything, he just started laughing harder. Gavin looked back to the training centre, looking if there were people watching them. And, unfortunately, there were. He saw Jones and Barb looking at them, and a couple of others. He turned to Geoff again. "Ssh, Geoff. They're looking at us."

"Who the fuck cares?" Geoff said with a grin on his face, wiping his eyes. After a moment of silence, Geoff placed his legs in front of him. He hit Gavin’s painful ankle in the process. Gavin let out a hiss of pain and Geoff's grin fell. "What's wrong?"

"I tripped," Gavin answered. "It's nothing."

Clearly, Geoff didn't believe him. "Dude, let me see," he moved towards Gavin's ankle and reached his hands towards the end of Gavin’s pants.

Gavin pulled his leg back reflexively and warned, "Careful."

“Yeah, yeah,” Geoff mumbled. He pulled the pants carefully back and Geoff looked a bit worried. That expression only stayed there for a moment, and then it was gone. It wasn’t too short for Gavin not to notice, though.

“Is it bad?”

“It’s pretty-” Geoff stopped himself. “Yeah, it is.”

“How bad? Will I walk again?”

Geoff let out a huff of laughter and said, “Stop being so dramatic. Yes, you’ll walk, but I gotta help you a bit. Lean on me and we’ll walk to the healing station.”

Wait... There was a healing station? The Hunger Games was about killing and murdering, not about training how to heal yourself and to stay alive.

“I know what you think,” Geoff said, “It’s pretty weird, I know. It is meant for training yourself to heal and use medicine, but to be honest, there isn’t that much to train with at all. They want you to die and they wouldn’t want to help you with not dying. The only reason that they added the healing station is that last year the favourite died because of a lot of blood loss. It could have been easily prevented if he knew how to stop the blood flow. A lot of people from the Capitol were upset by his death and of course Snow wants to make his people happy. The people that are important to him.“ Geoff scoffed after the last part.

“Sit down,” Geoff ordered Gavin. Gavin complied and hopped on the table in the middle. He moved a bit until he sat comfortable and watched Geoff. The man was looking for something in the drawer that stood against the wall. “Keep your leg up,” Gavin heard him say as he was searching. So, Gavin did. “Ah, fucking finally,” Geoff muttered as he found the things he was looking for and turned around. “No, you idiot, not like that!”

“What?” Gavin looked at his leg which he tried to hold up with his hands by his knee.

“Don’t fucking ‘wot’ me.” He grabbed Gavin’s knees and spun him 90 degrees, so that Gavin sat with his legs on the table. “Fucking dumb moron,” Geoff muttered silently.

He was silent the whole time that Geoff treated his ankle. He hissed when the bandage was wounded too tight, but that was only once. Afterwards, Geoff sighed and looked Gavin in the eye.

“I’m afraid your ankle will still hurt in the Arena, bud,” he said with clear compassion. Gavin was happy he met a truly nice person, and not just someone who wanted to kill everyone off.

Gavin stayed silent. It was horrible news, but there was nothing he could do about it now. It was not like he had great chances to win, anyways.

~~~~~

For the rest of the training day, he stayed near the stations where he wouldn’t have to move much, and where he could be alone, because he was done with these people for today.

Gavin wondered how many people he could trust. There was Geoff, yes, but he just met him today. The only other person he could trust is Barbara, but she was very close with Gus, and well… Gus didn’t like him very much.

He sighed. He knew he couldn’t sleep tonight. He had napped, for about half an hour, but that was it. His thoughts that he had repressed all day were coming back in the night. Thoughts about Dan, his family, but of course about the Arena too. Would he win? He’d like to think so, but he was Gavin. He never won anything. He has the poorest of luck. But if not, by whom would he get killed? Would his family mourn? Would _Dan_ mourn?

Sick of all his thoughts, he rubbed his face with his hands and stands up from his bed. He put on some shorts and a thin shirt before walking outside his room. When he stood in the kitchen to get a glass of water, he couldn’t help but stare at the door. Nobody was allowed to go out of their rooms except for times when they had to, but he was very tempted to get out of here. He didn’t know why. Maybe to get fresh air, to walk for a bit, to escape from all of this. He really wasn’t sure.

Then he realized he had already walked a few steps towards the door. He hadn’t opened the door yet, he could go back to his bed still, but he didn’t want to. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly. He didn’t want to get caught, so he tried to be as quiet as possible.

The stone floor felt cold under his bare feet. The night’s sky was beautiful, full of bright stars, and the light of the full moon shone into the hallway. The light casted a beautiful view on the hallway floor; the white tiles seemed to shine back to the moon, small pieces of it lighting blue in the moonlight. Gavin wondered what kind of material the tiles were made of.

He walked down the hallway. He didn’t know how much time went by when he suddenly heard other footsteps. They sounded soft but still somewhere near him. Gavin ran towards a pillar, hiding behind it.

He paid close attention to the sound and tried to determine where the person was. Then, as sudden as they appeared, the footsteps stopped. Gavin looked beside him. He didn’t see anyone.

“I know you’re there,” a voice said.

_Holy hell._ Gavin jumped.

“Come on out already.”

He considered his options; there were only two. Come out, or don’t. Gavin took a deep breath and took two steps, to reveal himself to the person.

“You know you’re really bad at hiding, right? I don’t know how you’re gonna survive in the Arena.”

Gavin didn’t reply. He wanted to be silent, he wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. 

“It was your shadow, if you were wondering.”

 No reaction.

“You gonna stay silent, fuckhead?”

Silence.

“Why?”

Nothing.

“This is not how you stay alive, you know.”

No reply.

“Fine. Whatever, fuckface.”

“Wait!” Gavin doesn’t know why he said it. He was better off by letting the person leave, but no. He really ought to learn some self-control.

The person, Jones, had stopped. He turned to face Gavin. Gavin apparently didn’t continue to talk quickly enough, so he snapped. “Tell me, dude. I want to go back to my room.”

“How do I survive?” Gavin eventually asked.

“You do not.”

“But, you just said-”

“I know.”

“So why..?”

“Why did I say that? Because it’s true. You don’t survive this way. _You_ don’t survive this way.”

“Why won’t I?”

“Because you’re shitty at hiding. You’re shitty at surviving, I can see. And still…” Jones looked at him, looking at Gavin’s face, torso, arms, but lingers when he is looking in his eyes. Gavin felt uncomfortable. “And still you Volunteered.”

Gavin clenches his jaw. “So what? Am I not allowed to?”

“No, you are, but you simply don’t strike me as the type.”

“What do you mean by that?” Gavin asked angrily. This guy could not just talk to him and say condescending things to him, like Gavin is not good enough. Even if he’s from District 2, that’s a dick move.

“No, no,” Jones hastily said. “I just mean, I don’t know why you did it. Barbara’s not your girlfriend, is she? I’ve heard some… rumours about you.”

Gavin frowned. “What rumours?”

Suddenly, Jones looked towards his right. It kind of reminded Gavin of a cat. Then he grabbed Gavin’s arm and they ran to the left, following the hallway. Gavin squawked and squealed, but the guy didn’t stop. Gavin wanted to know what the hell was going on, so he decided he had to stop running himself.

Jones looked at him, his face was red and he was panting. He sounded furious at Gavin. “Dude, what the fuck are you doing? We gotta run, they can’t find us!”

“What are you talking about? Have you gone mad?”

“No, dumbface, we have to go now.” His face lighted up, and he grabbed Gavin’s arm again. He dragged him to a ladder. Gavin didn’t think that ladder was for them, but he followed Jones’ instructions anyways.

They climbed upwards against the wall the ladder was attached to. Gavin didn’t know why this was here. Maybe it was utilized as a fire escape?

“This is mental,” Gavin sighed to himself.

Eventually, they were at the top. They were stood on one of the roofs of their building. Despite it being located in the Capitol, it was mossy and looked like there hasn’t been a person on the roof for a long while. It was actually pretty beautiful. The sight was amazing and the stars were bright in the dark atmosphere.

“Did you honestly not notice?”

Gavin looked at him. “Notice what?”

Jones sighed. “Jesus fucking Christ. The footsteps! They were loud as fuck.”

“Oh, there were footsteps?”

“Yes!”

“Oh,” Gavin laughed.

Jones smiled softly. “If you go through with this, you need a bodyguard or something.”

“A bodyguard?” Gavin laughed again. “I wish I could.”

They were silent after that. When Jones sat down, Gavin followed his lead and sat next to him. He pulled his legs towards his chest and hugged his knees, because it was pretty damn cold out.

“Why are you out of your room?” Gavin asked without looking at him. “This is floor 4. You shouldn’t be here.”

“I’ll go wherever I want to go. Why are _you_ out of your room?”

He let out a puff of breath. Why indeed? It was Gus, it was Barbara, it was Dan, it was everybody. It was the Games, it was the fact that he will die soon, it was the pressure of being good at everything. “I’m just..” Gavin sighed. “My mentor, he’s not being very encouraging.”

Jones huffs. “I know what you mean.”

Gavin was confused. He came from District 2, Jones was a Career. How could _he_ know how Gavin felt?

“Dude, you apparently don’t know me, because I’m not how you think I am.”

“I didn’t say anything."

“You’re bad at hiding. Both physically and emotionally.” Jones laughed, but grew serious again. He stared at the stone tiled floor as he spoke. “I never wanted to be a Career. The fighting, the killing, I don’t like it. I mean, I’m good at it, but I don’t want to destroy a life just because there’s some dumb game that’s supposed to entertain people.

“It doesn’t really entertain them, I know that. They act like they are, because otherwise, they get killed. I don’t want to be part of that, but then… Then Lindsay was chosen.” He looked at Gavin for a second, and he saw the pain in his eyes. “Lindsay is the love of my life. We grew up together, and always wanted to be together. We knew we loved each other since, I don’t know, since the beginning.”

Jones sighed. “So when she was chosen, I had to Volunteer. I will protect her. I will give my life for her, no matter what. And she will die for me, as well, I know she will. But,” his voice cracked, “she can’t die. She simply can’t.”

They were silent for a long time. Then, Gavin figured he should tell his story. “I also Volunteered. Barbara,” he paused, trying to find the right words, “Barbara is Dan’s crush. He’s my best friend. And I like Dan. Not just like, but… I don’t know. Feelings are complicated, I don’t like them.

“I also have known him since we were children, if not babies. I had a feeling he was going to Volunteer for her. And then he did. I don’t want him here, I don’t want him dead. So I Volunteered as well. Looking back, I don’t really know why. Sure, I like him, but he’s a great fighter. He’s strong and better at fighting than I am, I should know, since we wrestled sometimes,” Gavin smiled at the memories. “But it was still a risk, him going here. I just didn’t want to lose him. And I suppose that’s selfish, because of my family and all the people who care about me, but if it is, sod it.

“I’m here now, and I don’t regret my decision, but it’s just... I’m not made for this environment.” Gavin looked at Michael. “Have you seen me? I’m not winner material. My mentor knows that, so he pays no attention to me. He neglects me. I want to learn how to survive, I truly do, but how could I make that happen when nobody teaches me? I don’t know anything! For God’s sake, I don’t even know your name!”

His rant was over. He poured his heart out to a total stranger. But honestly, what does it matter? He’s got few days of his life left. Nobody cares about him, here. Look at Gus, look at Barbara. Nobody’s giving a shit about him. Or maybe he’s just being a whiny bitch.

He saw a hand in the corner of his eye. Jones looked at Gavin expectantly. Warily, Gavin shook Jones’ hand.

“Michael Jones,” Michael introduced himself as he gave Gavin a soft smile.

“Gavin Free,” he replied.

“Pleased to meet you, Gavin Free.” Michael’s smile slowly disappeared. “But Gavin, you have to know - about the bodyguard thing, that was a joke, honestly. I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

“Thanks,” Gavin smiled.

“How’s your ankle, by the way?”

“My ankle? Oh!” It must’ve been the adrenaline, because now Gavin’s aware of it, his ankle hurt like hell. The running and climbing probably hadn’t been a good idea.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Michael said. “Come on, dude, it’s getting late. We should head to our rooms.”

With Michael’s help, Gavin wobbled to his room. They said goodnight before Gavin entered his room. That night, Gavin finally slept peacefully.

~~~~~

Although he was feeling good because he’d slept well, he didn’t enjoy his breakfast with his ‘team’. He wanted to get away from Gus as soon as possible, so he left as fast as he could. He had nowhere else to go than the training area.

He was early, nobody was there yet. It was training day number two, which was also the last full one. They could train tomorrow morning, but they had to show their skills in the afternoon, to get their training score.

He had no problems with training, but he couldn’t do much fighting because of his ankle. His only options were stations that didn’t require much movement. So, obviously, he went to the fishing station.

He’d caught loads of fish when finally the others came in. A bearded guy entered the room, along with a woman with long, brown hair. The beard made him look much older than he was, Gavin thought. After that, more people came in, but Gavin didn’t pay attention.

He stared at the fish, surrounding his bait, but they were not biting it. There were some fish he didn’t recognize yet, so he tried to observe them. There was this medium-sized fish with the colours of a rainbow, and a green one with weirdly-placed black dots on his body.

“You gonna sit there and do nothing all day, or what?” A voice said, and Gavin jumped.

_Goddammit_ , Gavin thought, _what was it with this place and people scaring me?_ Gavin turned around to see who it was who spoke. “Oh, hi, Michael!” He greeted him with a smile, but Gavin was still unsure how to feel about him. Michael was a Career, after all. Lots of people were here to survive, but Careers were here to win. And although Michael had said he was different, Gavin didn’t believe him fully.

“I thought you were gonna train with us, today,” Michael said softly, waving a lazy arm to point out who ‘us’ was. It apparently meant Narvaez and Lindsay.

Gavin was caught by surprise. He hadn’t been aware of that. “You want me- You want me to train with you?”

“Yes,” Michael said, like it had been obvious all along.

“Okay,” he agreed, still unsure. He put an arm behind his back to help him push himself up. When he leant backwards he saw that Michael had extended his arm to Gavin. He accepted his offer, and Michael helped Gavin up.

“Although Gav… Do you think you can train with that ankle?” Michael put a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. He was concerned about him, Gavin realised.

For some reason, Gavin couldn’t look him in the eyes for longer than a second. “Yeah, yeah. I’m sure.”

Michael looked at Gavin, inspecting his face. He seemed to think before he said, “Okay, then. Let’s go.” Michael gave Gavin a little smile. Gavin looked away quickly, feeling a bit flustered. They walked together towards Narvaez and Lindsay, who were already holding swords. Despite the impressive appearance, they looked kind. They definitely didn’t look like the typical Career. Those people had a bad attitude, they acted like they were better than everyone else. These two, they didn’t look like that. Gavin felt like a child going to school for the first time.

Gavin realised Michael really had listened to him when Michael introduced him to Narvaez and Lindsay. It turned out that Narvaez was actually called Ray, after his father. They both greeted Gavin with a smile, and he couldn’t help but smile back.

“What do you think, hot stuff?” Lindsay asked.

He thought the question was directed at Ray, but when they all looked at him, he grew nervous. “Me? Uh, I- I don’t-”

“I think it’s better if you guys go ahead,” Michael interrupted him. “We’ll watch.”

Lindsay and Ray looked at each other. “You’re going down,” she challenged him, Ray grinned as a response.

When they took their stance in the fighting area, Michael shuffled closer to Gavin.

“You’re gonna love this,” he said softly. “Who do you think is gonna win?”

Gavin looked at Lindsay and Ray, trying to figure out their strong and weak points. They hadn’t really started fighting yet, they were just moving around each other. Dancing, it seemed more like. Lindsay looked more agile, but Ray and his sword moved like one. It was obvious that they were equally matched.

“Ray,” Gavin answered. He heard a small laugh beside him. He turned to Michael. “What?”

He grinned as he looked towards the fight. “Nothing, dude.”

Gavin huffed, lifted his chin, and watched Ray and Lindsay.

Suddenly, the fight began.

Lindsay was the first to make a move. Her first swing was aimed at his torso, which Ray dodged, then aimed for the legs. Ray stepped backwards, out of the swords’ reach, and used Lindsay’s swing to make a move. He dodged another swing by ducking and he aimed for her head. She moved back and forward immediately to use her time of Ray being unbalanced. She swung, but it was stopped by Ray’s sword. A sharp metal clink was heard throughout the training area.

“Isn’t this dangerous?” Gavin whispered to Michael, afraid he’d bring the fighters out of their concentration if he spoke loudly.

“Yes.”

That was it. No explanation, no warning, no “they know what they’re doing, it’s okay”. But Gavin still understood. It wouldn’t be any different when they are in the Arena. In fact, it’d be even more dangerous in there.

Gavin stopped thinking about it when he saw Lindsay dodge an attack by Ray by doing some kind of cartwheel. He was really impressed, but he supposed it was normal for them, since they have trained their whole life fighting already. The only time Gavin did a cartwheel willingly, was when Dan and he went swimmies. And he only did it while he was in the water, so 10 times less difficult than here, whilst you were fighting and dodging a swing from a sharp sword that could kill you if you make one wrong move. Scratch that, maybe one thousand times less difficult.

He looked at Michael, because this was still the love of his life fighting here. She could be killed any moment, and he was just standing next to Gavin, calmly, like there was no problem at all. There was no expression on his face. No pride, no worry, he just looked at the fight. Then, out of nowhere, he said, “Watch the fucking fight, Gavin. Maybe you’ll learn something from it.”

He tried not to look like he’d just been startled. He nodded determinedly and watched Ray and Lindsay.

Lindsay looked more tired than Ray, but she still moved quickly. Gavin couldn’t help but notice people standing around the fighting area. Some looked worried, others had a frightened look on their faced, and only a few were looking in awe. He saw Geoff, standing next to a guy he recognized from District 3, and the guy with the beard from this morning.

He looked back at the fight. Lindsay was fast in her movements. When Ray swung, she was quick to defend herself. When she attacked, she quickly reacted to Ray’s defence, giving herself another opportunity to attack. Then she attacked but stopped her movement suddenly. Ray was too slow to understand what was happening, so before he knew it, he had a sword touching the side of his stomach.

The fight was over, Lindsay had won.

She cheered and Ray shrugged. It didn’t seem to be a huge deal for him, losing a match. They shook hands and walked back to Michael and Gavin.

Up close, Gavin could see how hard they’d trained. Lindsay’s face was red and sweaty and Ray was out of breath. Honestly, Gavin hadn’t really expected sword fighting would have those results. Of course, he should have known, because it was still fighting. Back home, after his brother and he had been wrestling, they were all sweaty and out of breath as well. Gavin more than his brother, because of course, Gavin was the weak one. He never won anything.

“Are you coming, or what?” Gavin looked towards Michael, who had already a sword in his hand.

“Wha- Are you really serious?”

“Yes, you idiot. Or are you too scared?” Michael grinned. He knew he’d picked the right words to irritate Gavin.

Gavin didn’t want to give in, but he was too proud. He lifted his chin. “Of course not.” He walked towards the sword standard and grabbed one he thought was best for him. The sword was heavy and felt unnatural in his hand, but he still wanted to give everyone, especially Michael, the impression that he knew how to handle swords.

Michael was already waiting for him on the fighting floor. Gavin walked over to him, holding his sword with two hands.

“You really have no fucking clue how to use a sword, have you?” Michael’s crooked grin was taunting him.

“Does it matter?” Gavin asked, not wanting an answer.

He got an answer, but it wasn’t verbally. Michael attacked him with a strong swing towards Gavin’s side. Michael didn’t pity him. How Gavin managed to block it, he didn’t know.

_Geez, Michael wasn’t one to fuck around._

He had a scene playing in his mind: he’d attack Michael on the left, but quickly move to the right, so quickly that Michael didn’t even know what’d happened. So, Gavin attacked him, only it didn’t play out as he’d hoped.

When Gavin swung his sword, Michael said, “Got ya,” with that taunting grin of his. Gavin looked to where Michael was looking, and saw a sword basically waiting to pierce his belly.

“Again,” said Michael.

The boy moved to the right, so Gavin moved towards the left. Gavin was the first to strike. He aimed for the hips, but Michael dodged it with some amazing footwork. Gavin swung again, but the other blocked it easily. Gavin tried to pierce Michael, but the Career moved quickly and had a sword next to Gavin’s ribs.

“Again.”

Gavin was beginning to get angry. His moves were blunt and his strikes were obvious. It was a couple of seconds before Michael took him down with the broad side of the sword against the side of his calf. Because of the force Michael put behind the movement, Gavin fell down on his side. He felt embarrassed, this was the second time he fell down in front of the other Tributes. Gavin heard Michael laugh full heartedly, which only embarrassed him more.

When he started to push himself up, he felt arms around him, helping him. Gavin looked at the person, to see who it was, and was surprised when he saw Geoff’s face. He looked worried and angry at the same time.

“Are you hurt?” he asked with a soft voice.

Gavin focussed on his ankle. It hurt a bit, but he didn’t think it was worse than before. The rest of his body, except for the palms of his hands, was undamaged. “I don’t think so.”

Geoff pulled Gavin’s arm around his shoulders when they were stood up. “You went too far,” Geoff said to Michael.

Michael didn’t reply. The joy on his face was gone, but he didn’t seem regretful. Michael was one mysterious boy. He wanted to help Gavin, but laughed when he failed miserably. Gavin was confused: was he his friend or not?

Geoff helped Gavin walk away, towards the people Gavin saw Geoff standing next to earlier. When they stood still, in front of the guys, Geoff introduced them to him.

“Gavin, this is Ryan Haywood, from District 3, and Jack Pattillo, from District 7.” When Geoff mentioned their names, Ryan winked and Jack smiled politely. “Guys, this is Gavin Free, District 4, first class moron.” Gavin burst out a giggle at that, to which Geoff grinned.

“You looked like you had some trouble fighting with swords,” Ryan said. Gavin felt his cheeks grow hot. “Wanna try something with less footwork?”

Gavin’s face lighted up. “What do you mean?”

“Archery,” Geoff said. “It’s perfect. Jack’s gonna get you the arrows, he needs some exercise anyways,” Jack laughed at that, “and you only have to stand still. Ryan’s gonna help you with training, he’s the expert. And I am gonna sit back and relax, not worrying about your stupid fucking ankle. What do you think?”

Archery seemed like a cool thing to be able to do, and this was a perfect plan. “Yeah, I’m up for it.”

Some minutes later, Gavin held a bow in his hand and wore an quiver on his back.

“First, you have to have a proper stance. Aim your toes at me,” Ryan instructed. “Very well. Straighten your back.” Gavin did, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Ryan put his hand on Gavin’s lower back and torso, and straightened it more. “That’s good. Now, you want to grasp the bow. Your grip should be relaxed and, once in the Arena, you should be able to do it quickly. Raise the bow.” Gavin complied. “There are a few ways to hold the string, but I want to teach you what I like to do. The index finger should be above the arrow, and your middle and ring finger below it.”

“Like this?” Gavin asked, doing what he said.

“Yeah, like that,” Ryan smiled. “Now draw the string. Your elbow should be pointed upwards. Like that, yeah. Again, you want to be as relaxed as possible. Use your back muscles. With the proper stance, you use them automatically. You’ll be able to shoot the arrow more precisely and farther than when you use your arm muscles. One last thing. There’s something called the ‘anchor point’. It is the point where you should stop drawing the string. This is vital for your skill, because you’ll know how to shoot better. I use the corner of my mouth, but you can choose for yourself. Close your left eye when you shoot.”

Gavin chose the corner of his mouth too, it seemed the best option for him. He looked at the bull’s eye. “Can I shoot?”

“Not yet,” Ryan said. Gavin felt a lingering touch on his elbow, pushing it more upwards. “Now you can.”

Gavin let loose of the string. The arrow shot forward, hitting the upper side of the target, the arrow pointing upwards. He looked at Ryan.

“Not bad for your first time,” he sounded proud as he winked at Gavin.

He was a bit stunned. He didn’t know what to reply, _if_ he should reply. So, he murmured out a thanks.

“Come on, do another one,” Ryan said.

Gavin grabbed an arrow from the quiver on his back, and placed it properly. He took his stance and raised his bow. He drew the string like he did last time. He waited for a comment from Ryan.

“You’re good,” Gavin heard from his side.

He shot again. This time, the arrow fell on the ground just before the target. He sighed. He was always better at stuff on the first try.

“Maybe you wanna try to breathe slowly in and out,” Ryan suggested. “After you breathe out, you shoot. Sometimes it helps.”

_Would’ve been great if I knew that sooner,_ Gavin thought snidely, but didn’t say anything. He drew another arrow, and took his stance. This time, he breathed in…

… and out.

The arrow shot quickly through the air, hitting the target close to the bull’s eye. Gavin cheered, as did Ryan and Geoff.

“I can see you have a talent for this,” Ryan said.

“You think so?” Gavin asked suspiciously, because he didn’t agree. He was a person to forget a lot of things, and if he had to shoot an arrow in the Arena, he’d definitely forget everything. Especially under pressure.

“Definitely, you only need to practice more. That’s it, though.” He smiled and Gavin smiled back.

Gavin heard Geoff yell, “Jack, fetch!” to which Jack replied, “Fuck you!” yet he walked towards the target anyways.

“Let’s try this a few more times.”

The time after that was filled by Ryan winking and standing too close to him, Gavin and Ryan training their archery skills, Geoff making jokes and Jack fetching arrows. After an hour or so, Jack suggested something else. They walked towards the training station of snare-setting. Jack said that he was good at building stuff, and could learn us some handy tricks. Afterwards, they indeed seemed pretty damn useful.

Gavin had had a fun time with the other three older teenagers. Geoff and Jack were really funny, and Ryan was a whole other person. He seemed to flirt with everybody and was a bit… experimental. He was a weird teen. Gavin liked him, though.

Gavin had learned a lot of and from the other guys. For example, Jack was the one who entered the training centre after Gavin. They found out that Jack had a crush on the female tribute of his district, Caiti Ward. Jack hadn’t told them, but it was obvious how he acted around her. Barbara had come along with her, wanting to meet Gavin’s allies, she’d said. They had brought Kara Eberle from 1 and Arryn Zech from 3 with them.

He didn’t really talk to her. He’d introduced her to the Gents, as Gavin liked to call the older teenage boys, but that was it. To be honest, he didn’t know what to talk about. It was weird to hang out with people you’re supposed to kill a few days later.

He sighed.

This whole thing was weird.

~~~~~

“You’ve gotten us a lot of interested sponsors,” Gus said, opening a conversation. Gavin was surprised. Gus would usually not even look at him, let alone speak. “I’m still not sure how you did it.” Gus took another bite of his food. Gavin was not sure of what it was. It was orange and goopy. He had tried it, and it was delicious, but he didn’t like goopy things. “Even so, I’m sure you didn’t do it on purpose.” He laughed. “I mean, you’re _you_.”

“Hey,” Barbara said disapprovingly.

“Don’t interrupt your mentor, Barbara.” Lio Dane had proven to be a pain in the arse. He acted like your parent while he had no right, he gave advice when nobody had need of it or asked for it and when you made it clear you didn’t like him, he did everything to make you happy again. Gus

Sorola was like a god to him. Gavin despised him. Lio made things a thousand times worse. “He’s only trying to help you.”

“That’s a load of crap, and you know it,” Gavin murmured.

“What’s that, Gavin?” The only good thing about the unique Capitol furniture is the length of the table. Gavin always sat at one end of it, Gus at the other. Lio, being Lio, wanted to sit as close as possible to Gus. And Barbara - well, it depended on her mood and circumstances. Right now, she sat more closely to Gavin.

“Whatever you are doing right now, Free, I suggest you keep it this way. The more sponsors, the better your chances are at surviving. And you really need that, since your chances are at zero, right now.” Again, Gus, with the stab in the back.

“I’ve seen Gavin train, and believe me, Gus,” Barbara sounded a bit annoyed, Gavin wondered why, “his chances are not at zero percent.” She continued staring at Gus.

Gus only laughed. “Don’t grow too fond of him, Barbara, unless you want him to be the cause of your death.”

After that, dinner went on silently. When he’d finished eating, Gavin went to his own room. He’d barely eaten, but that didn’t matter. With his own bathroom and food ordering service, his bedroom was his own safe haven. He didn’t like how posh and extravagant they were in the Capitol, but it has its upsides.

When he came out of the bathroom after showering, Barbara was sat on his bed.

“Woah!” Barbara started, looking away from Gavin. “Easy there, tiger.”

Embarrassed, Gavin put on his clothes already laid out for him. “Not my fault you were here unannounced. Okay, you can look now. How did you get in here?”

“Hey, I’m not dumb, Gavin,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Your door was open,” she deadpanned, then laughed. When Gavin clearly wasn’t amused, she grew serious. “Look. We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t.”

“ _Yes_ , we do.” She grew quiet. There was a lot on her mind, obviously, she acted so restless. She picked the blanket before speaking again. “Why are you letting him stomp all over you? Why aren’t you fighting back, for your life? For your family?” She sounded heartbroken and genuinely curious. It was not her place to be.

“I’ve already protected my family. This is the price.” Best friends didn’t really count as family, but Dan was an exception.

She said nothing, but Gavin had the feeling this conversation wasn’t over yet. “You know, Gus cares about you. He wants you to win.”

Gavin barked out a laugh. “That’s not true and you know it. Sorola hates everybody, especially me.”

She was quiet for a moment. “I don’t get why he doesn’t trust you to win. You’re tough, otherwise those Careers wouldn’t have trained with you.”

“You clearly don’t know them well.” They didn’t want to train with Gavin, they just wanted someone to laugh and hang out with.

“Maybe. I’ve only met them. Are they nice?”

“I don’t know. They all seem nice, but I don’t know what’s up with Michael.”

“Hmm,” she seemed to think about it. Her blonde hair was still messy and a bit sweaty from training, so she still had to shower. Gavin could easily see why Dan fell in love with this girl. Even after sweating like a pig, she was as beautiful as every other time. “But you have Ryan, Jack and Geoff, right?”

“The Gents, yeah. They are nice. Geoff helped me with my ankle.” Gavin realised he hadn’t really paid attention to her in the training area. “And have you met other people than the people I’ve met?”

“Not really. Kara wants to prepare us really well. We were lucky when she let us go to you guys.”

It got quiet. Gavin yawned. Just before Barb left, Gavin wanted to ask her something.

“Hey, Barb?”

“Yeah?”

“I kinda wanna lay low tomorrow morning. Wanna train together?”

“Sure, man.”

~~~~~

Surprisingly enough, Barbara was already eating her breakfast when Gavin entered the dining room. He had come especially early, because he was actually pretty excited about hanging out with Barbara. After all, he has known her for a long time, and now they had a chance to really talk. He wanted to take this chance, because at home she was just a familiar face to him. Dan definitely saw her more than he did. And now he could get to know her, this beautiful blonde who Dan is in love with. He wanted to really know her, finding out why Dan fell in love with her. And he had to do that now, since they would enter the Arena tomorrow. His or her life, maybe both, will end.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: In this chapter the Games finally begin, so if blood, gore, death or other things that will happen in the Arena isn't really your thing, I suggest you be careful from now on.
> 
> Also, sorry, the ~~~~~ thingy just didn't want to be put in the middle. I'll look into it in a week, when I have time. Enjoy!

“Gavin, I want to get the bad stuff out of the way first.”

“Okay,” Gavin said when Joel Heyman seemed to expect some kind of answer.

Joel leaned in. “A two? Really?”

Gavin laughed uncomfortably. “Yeah, that was something.” He rubbed his neck.

“Tell us what happened, because honestly, I don’t believe it. You look like a strong, young man.”

That’s not true, Gavin thought. But why deny it? There are millions of people watching him right now. “Well, let’s just say I am clumsy and the judges didn’t appreciate it.” 

The crowd laughed. Gavin wasn’t sure if that was positive or negative.

“Aha! So, it was an accident, yes? Well, people, I think Gavin’s actions in the Arena won’t be as unfortunate, what do you think?” The crowd cheered. When they quieted down, Joel spoke again. “Now something else, Gavin. We are all wondering the same thing. Why did you Volunteer as tribute? You didn’t know Andrew Pierce, the original male tribute for District 4, for as far as we know. You know the other Volunteer, right? Everyone is dying to know,” Joel Heyman smiled, his teeth white as clouds could be. 

“Well, um,” Gavin felt shy, having such an audience. He realised everyone in whole Panem was watching him right now, including Dan and his family. “Dan was the other Volunteer. He is my best friend. I couldn’t see him end up here, so I volunteered for him.”

“Mm,” Joel looked at Gavin, inspecting his face. “Best friend, you say?”

This conversation was making him more and more uncomfortable. “Yes?” he said, unsure of what Joel was getting at.

“Are you sure, this very handsome Dan fellow, isn’t something more than just a,” he paused, “‘best friend’?” 

“What are you on about?” Gavin frowning, trying to remain ignorant but knowing he’s failing miserably. Blushing is a dead give-away. “Dan is not more than a friend.”

“You said best friend last time.” Gavin sputtered, he did not know what to say to something like that. “Is there, Gavin Free, anything you aren’t saying to us?” When he remained quiet, Joel stood up, walking towards the audience-end of the stage. “We would like to know, don’t we, folks?” The audience cheered loudly. It was overwhelming. Joel laughed and silenced the audience by a single gesture. “Okay, okay, okay,” he sat back down in the purple chair, looking expectantly at Gavin.

It wasn’t fair, Gavin thought. This was a lot of pressure. But he gave in. He was dead in a few days, anyways. Maybe this could be his saving grace, because he desperately needed one. The two he got was a massive hit to his self-esteem. So he sighed, and mumbled, barely audible, “Yes.”

“What’s that? I don’t think the audience could hear you.”

“Yes,” Gavin said, louder this time. “There is something I haven’t told you. I am in love with Dan.”

The crowd was cheering as well as sending Gavin some cat calls. 

“And, Gavin,” Joel said softly, almost intimate, “does he feel the same about you?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t know I feel this way about him.”

Everyone was silent. As silent as the moment after Dan Volunteered. “Well, then. That gives you another reason to win these Games, and I’m sure he wouldn’t be able to turn you down, now you admitted your feelings.”

Gavin put on a fake smile. “You’re right, Joel.”

“The time is almost over, but I wanted to ask you one last thing. Is it true that you sprained your ankle on your first day of training?”

“Yes, that is true.”

“Are you still able to compete in the Arena?” Joel seemed worried, but Gavin knew it was all an act. Joel just wanted some drama for his show. 

“Yes, I am, Joel,” Gavin put on a fake smile. “Geoff Ramsey patched me up. I’m perfect, now.”

“That’s great to hear,” Joel said, flashing his too white teeth at him. The buzzer sounded. “The time is up! It was great to talk to you, Gavin. Good luck!” 

The applause was bigger than he’d expected. Gavin had scored a 2, but that didn’t really seem to matter to the audience. He had the impression they liked him, but he was not sure. 

Walking towards his seat, he felt like he was being watched. Sure enough, he looked up the stairs to see Michael looking at him. He sat like a king on his royal throne, letting his civilian feel under scrutiny. Gavin decided to ignore him. It was not easy.

The rest of the evening passed by quickly enough for Gavin not to be bored. It was interesting to see Jack’s and Geoff’s interview. Geoff had used his sarcastic humour often, which made the evening more entertaining. 

When the Tributes for District 12 got interviewed, Gavin couldn’t help but feel intimidated and… afraid. He was already afraid of them. Both the girl and the guy felt dangerous. It was another kind of feeling than he had with Michael. The girl, Flynt Coal, and guy, Mark Nutt, talked about the Arena as if they had an agenda. Gavin didn’t like it.

When the evening was over, they walked towards their apartment. Gavin wanted to go to his room as soon as possible, so he walked ahead of the others. Gus and Barbara probably had stuff to talk about anyways, and he wasn’t feeling like talking. He’s already confessed way too much tonight. No need to talk any more. He wanted some peace. 

He didn’t get any.

Barbara entered the elevator swiftly as the doors were closing. Apparently she had kept up with him. When the doors were closed, she started speaking.

“I guess now I know why you’ve volunteered for Dan.”

“Hm?” He wanted to act as nonchalant as possible. This subject had had enough attention for the night.

“The whole liking Dan thing? That’s huge. I didn’t know that. Does Dan really not know?”

Gavin held up a hand and stopped her from talking any further. “It wasn’t real. It was all an act.” 

She looked at him for a second and then sighed. “Gavin, I’m tired of your shit. I’m not gonna judge you if it’s true. Look me in the eyes and tell me.”

The elevator stopped at their floor, making Barbara lose her balance and curse out loud. She was not used to the elevator yet, but Gavin was. He used his extra time to walk ahead of Barb, and run to his room.

“Gavin, stop!” He heard behind him. Something was thrown at his back. When he stopped and looked back, he saw Barbara grab her other heel and throw it towards Gavin. He laughed, not believing the madness he was in. Barb laughed as well and said softly, “Gav. You can’t keep running away from your problems.”

“You think it’s true?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“You really think so? You think I’m in love with Dan?”

“Yes.” 

“I’m not. Here’s my proof.” He walked over to Barbara, grabbed her face and kissed her.

She pushed him away. “Stop!”

Gavin didn’t know why he’d done that. He got caught up in the moment, he figured. ‘Sorry.” 

“Do you know why I think the story is true?” Barbara’s voice trembled a bit. Gavin just looked at her. “You’re afraid. Of everything. Of the Arena, of the interview, of me, Gus, Michael, and yourself. You’re afraid of the truth, because it is horrible. And I don’t blame you. These things are scary. Hell, Gus’ moustache looks like a black worm.” They laughed at that, it lightened the mood. “Let’s go to your room, before we get interrupted by the big black worm.”

They did. Barb sat on his bed, just like last time they talked in his room. Gavin wanted something to do, so he walked over to his cabinet and searched for something invisible and non-existing.

“Tell me the truth, Gavin. Share your secrets with me.” When Gavin didn’t stop looking into his drawer, Barbara stood up and grabbed his hand, stopping him from searching. “What are you looking for? Pictures of Dan? Admit it, you’re gay, dude.”

It was silent for a second before Gavin burst out laughing. Barbara smiled. “Barb… Okay, yeah. It’s true.” 

“So, you don’t know if he likes you back. Why did you Volunteer then, Gavino?” she whispered the question, almost pondering to herself. Gavin wondered if this subject was something she’s thought about before, or only started wondering about this tonight.

“I… I don’t know.” He walked towards his bed and sat down on it. Barbara sat beside him. “Looking back, I still don’t really know.”

“Does he know?” 

Gavin was surprised she changed the subject. Apparently, she just wanted to talk, and not interrogate him. “No. Well, now I guess he does. But you know Dan, he might still not believe it.”

“You’re right, he’s not the brightest fish in the sea.” 

They laughed together. It sounded sad.  
~~~~~  
When the platform reached its destination, all Gavin could see was their surroundings. It was… odd. They were stood upon a large, circle-shaped plateau of rocks. At the end, the rocks formed a hill. It was not very large, but high enough to make looking over it impossible. He had no idea what kind of landscape the Arena would be.

Then Gavin focused on the area. Michael stood on his left, Arryn on the right. They weren’t really his enemies outside in the Arena, but were they inside? Gavin didn’t know, and he didn’t want to. His intention was to get out of here, as soon as possible, because blood would practically rain here in a few minutes. 

His eye fell on a small, hand-sized bag. There wouldn’t be much in there, but it would be better than nothing, Gavin supposed. And there, to the right of the bag, bow and arrows! But if he were to grab that, he’d pass Flynt Coal, and he wasn’t so sure about her.

The Game Makers had given her a nine. And for a tribute from District 12, that’s unbelievably high. Nobody was sure what she did on her test. Besides her high score, the story she told Joel and the whole of Panem revealed her true intentions. It still gave Gavin chills. Her goal was to win, she was very clear on that. She was furious that her District was poor and so full of hunger, when in the Capitol, eating was just an annoying necessity, a small part of their day. She was so full of anger, yet she managed to be loved by the people of the Capitol. As did her fellow Tribute, Mark Nutt. He’d seen his skills with a bow, and man, did Gavin want to stay out of his line of range.

Michael had scored a seven, Lindsay an eight. Ray, as expected, had the highest score of all: a ten. Ryan scored a six, and Geoff and Jack both a five. Barbara had done better than expected and Gus had been proud of her: an eight. As for his score, he didn't want to think about it.

Gavin looked at the time. He had twenty seconds left. He still had to decide where he would go. He wanted to get the bag, but if he stayed near this area, he would almost certainly die. This was no time for mistakes. Gavin watched Flynt, trying to find out where she was headed. She seemed to lean more to the left than to the right, which was away from Gavin. He couldn’t be sure though, it was just a hunch. But again, better a hunch than nothing.

Ten seconds left. Gavin’s heart seemed to race, as if it already was running. He wanted to run already, get away from here, but if he set one foot off this platform, landmines would kill him. For what it’s worth, he’d like to live as long as possible.

Five. Gavin had decided, he’s going to go for the bag, bow, and arrows. He leaned forward, put his left leg behind his right, bended his knees and put his arms into the running position. He was ready.

One.

No, he was not ready.

He couldn’t wait. It was time to run. Gavin ran as quickly as he could, but he knew it wasn’t fast enough. He saw people running to the middle, where the most dangerous and useful weapons and other supplies were. He had to run around them to get to his things. Fuck. He had only thought about Flynt, and not Michael and the other two tributes between them.

He chose to keep running towards his things. The other tributes paid him no mind, as they have no weapon yet, and more importantly: Flynt didn't pay him attention. He had been able to get his bag pretty easily, but the bow and arrow was a different story.

When he grabbed the bow, he felt resistance. Just when he saw a boy with sleek, black hair, holding the other side of the bow, he felt a hard blow on the side of his ribs. He was lying on the ground, his hand holding the bow still/ He was about to kick the boy in his groin when a sword hit Sleeky Hair. Blood came gushing out of the guy’s stomach, but he was still alive and willing to fight for his life. Sleeky Hair attacked Gavin’s defender, but he was quickly defeated. A blow on the head knocked him out.

“Fucking run, Gavin!” Michael screamed at him, as he put a sword through Sleeky Hair’s throat. Gavin didn’t need to hear that twice. He grabbed the bow and arrows and took a run for it.

Cannons were heard behind him. He desperately wanted to look behind him, to see how Michael was doing, but he knew he couldn’t. It would cost him his life. 

The grey, rocky area turned into a beautiful green jungle. Every inch of ground was covered by plants or trees; there was enough shelter. After a long amount of time running, he knew water wouldn’t be a problem too. When the day turned into night, Gavin was sitting inside of a large bush, the leaves providing safety. At least, he hoped it would.  
Before he went to sleep, he looked inside his bag. There was a small piece of flint and steel, and a small black flask which seemed to have some kind of liquid in it.. He opened the black bottle and smelled the inside. He didn’t smell anything weird, so he took a small sip. Recognizing the liquid as water, Gavin drank a bit, before putting it back in his bag. Content with his loot, he fell asleep.  
~~~~~  
Gavin awoke to the sound of an explosion. It had sounded too close by than he’d have liked. A cannon was heard after that. He listened, wanting to know if there were any enemies nearby, but it was safe, he thought. He grabbed his stuff, had a bow with an arrow drawn in his hand, and walked out of the bush. 

He was expecting someone to jump out of a tree and kill him, but when he scanned the area, it was surprisingly peaceful. It was strange, this entire forest… There are a lot people out here, somewhere in this forest, waiting to kill him. He knew he wasn’t safe - far from it, in fact - but he still wanted to fight for his life.

Gavin stopped walking when he saw the massive hole in the ground. It was difficult to see clearly, since it was still dark, but the hole was just one dark spot in the middle of the forest. Fear washed over him. This had been a landmine, and it was a massive one. Gavin figured it had been hidden well, between the trees and bushes, considering there was nothing else in this area. The fact that he could step on a landmine at any moment, brought him a great amount of fear.

He had to get away from here. It was not safe.  
~~~~~  
Gavin had been watching the sun rise and slowly climbing up the sky as he walked. It was the only thing that was consistent. The Arena wasn’t just one big forest. He saw mountains far away, as well as swamps with a greenish fog hanging above it. Seeing that made him glad he had his flask, because he didn’t trust the water from the swamp. He didn’t trust anything. 

He stopped walking when he heard a girl laughing. Looking where the noise came from, he saw blonde hair. Then, a boy spoke. 

“So she had no idea you were there?” the boy spoke soft and groggily.

“No!” Blonde Hair giggled. “But she saw you,” she teased. 

The boy cried out suddenly. “Hold still, Mark, I can’t bandage you when you’re being twitchy.” She paused. “But yeah, her fiery red hair is now extra red because of the blood.”

Hearing the name caused Gavin to recognize them. He was Mark Nutt, and she was Flynt Coal. Gavin wondered if they were alone or not. In both cases, he should walk away quickly. 

He listened to his instinct. His steps stopped when he tripped over something. Gavin had managed to stay upright, but the movement had made a lot of noise. He looked over to the people, and looked Flynt dead in the eye. 

She yelled something Gavin couldn’t understand, and ran towards him. That was Gavin’s cue to run as well. It was hard to run fast with the soggy ground clinging onto his feet. 

After a few seconds of running, he realised Mark was shooting at him. The trees made it impossible to hit Gavin. He was lucky.

Gavin’s ankle was almost healed, but the trip had caused a return of the pain. Adrenalin didn’t help his pain enough. He got dizzy, and tripped and fell and landed in a hole. 

Silent and barely breathing, he looked into the forest. He could barely hear someone walking. The sound continued on for a good ten minutes, but then they were gone.

He then realized, his bow was missing. He still had his arrows, but without a bow, they were almost useless. Still, they could serve as a small knife.

Now, there was another problem. He seemed to be in a dark hole which had no escape whatsoever. Only one option left: go further into the darkness.  
~~~~~  
The hole turned into a small cave. When Gavin walked out of it, he looked back. He knew he hadn’t been alone in there, because someone shot a few times at him, but no one came after him. He dismissed it; he came out alive after all. 

The scenery was different. He stood on a small hill, swamps nowhere to be found. In the distance, he could see more bigger hills. He figured that was the edge of the Arena, because he couldn’t see anything behind it. 

He walked towards the trees and decided to sleep here. He made some animal traps, like Jack had taught him to. Gavin wondered how Jack and the others were. He would love to talk to them again, but he didn’t know if they were friends inside the Arena. 

The day turned into a beautiful evening. The sky was orange, pink and dark blue mixed together. A rabbit was caught in his animal traps, which made for some great food. The only downside was, he needed to make some fire. A large light in the dark made you an easy target. And with his bow gone, he didn’t think it was a great idea. 

Gavin’s hunger decided for him. His plan was to make a small fire, not allowing it to have lots of flames. He skinned the rabbit with the point of an arrow before he started the fire. He gagged when he saw and smelled the inside of the rabbit. He cut off the front legs and put the rest of the meat in the pocket of his pants. Back home, he’d learned the techniques of skinning an animal, but he never was a fan of doing it. Therefore, he became a fisherman, not a butcher.

When it became too dark out for the fire, he decided to eat the food. After all, someone probably knew his location by now. He picked up the food and put out the fire. The rabbit was not done yet, but he had no choice. He brushed off the dirt and took a bite. It was delicious. Yes, it could use some spices and the meat was dry, but damn, it was good to have something in his stomach. 

The fire was still smoldering when he finished his food. The sun was set and the birds were asleep. He drank from his water bottle. It was almost empty. He needed to find drinkable water soon. 

He searched for a good place to sleep. There was a spot on the ground consisting only of moss, which provided a comfortable night, but not much cover. He looked for branches, leaves, anything that he could cover himself up with during the night, when he heard footsteps nearby. 

Gavin froze, concentrating on the sound, but it disappeared. He shrugged, he probably imagined the sound. He picked up a large piece of grass and put it on the branches. . 

The result was great, Gavin thought. If he stayed still, he had a good cover. 

Suddenly, he heard someone landing on the ground. He hadn’t imagined this. Gavin stayed still, hoping he wouldn’t get seen. But the footsteps came closer. Gavin’s hand grabbed an arrow, preparing to fight someone. The footsteps stopped behind a tree. Then, Gavin saw a shoe. He looked up, and under the moonlight, he could see the person’s face. The person laughed. 

“Hey, Gavin,” Ray’s voice sounded odd in the stillness of the night. There was no threat heard in his voice, but Gavin was not sure if he was a danger to him or not.

Knowing that Ray was a great fighter, he stood up and got on equal ground. If Ray wanted to kill him, he was prepared to fight for his life. 

“Ray,” Gavin acknowledged him. He hadn’t meant to, but his voice sounded icy. 

“Dude, I’m not here to fight you,” Ray said, holding his hands up. “Should I drop my knives? Does that make you feel better?” Gavin didn’t answer. Ray grabbed his two knives and dropped them on the ground. “See? Friendly. I’m your friend.” 

“Okay, you’re friendly,” Gavin replied, less to Ray and more to himself. He smiled and put his arrow back in the quiver. “Good to see you survived.”

“Same.” Ray smiled back. After a beat, his smile gained something Gavin didn’t trust. 

Suddenly, Gavin was pulled back into someone. The person’s arm held Gavin across his breast, and another held something sharp to his throat. Gavin grabbed the arm that was threatening to end his life, pulling hard. “Stop!”

The threat was gone and another laugh sounded. Gavin turned around, and saw Michael laughing.

“‘Stop’? Is that all you have?” He and Ray laughed at Gavin. When Michael finally stopped laughing, he took a heavy breath. “Man, we have to work on your fighting techniques.” 

He put an arm around Gavin’s shoulders. “Surprised you’re not dead yet.”

Gavin took offense to that. “Why, am I not good enough?”

“Considering you said ‘stop’ when your life was in danger, and I already have saved your life once, I don’t think you can defend yourself, no.”

“What about you, Ray?”

“Hey man, I’m not getting in the middle of this, but seeing the cover you wanted to use…”

“What?! What’s wrong with my cover?”

They all turned to the spot where Gavin wanted to sleep tonight. It was just a lump of grass, moss, branches and ground. 

“Yeah, because no one is suspicious of that lump of dirt. Also, your feet were sticking out.”

Michael laughed at that. “Come, Gavin. Follow your saviors.” Ray and Michael started walking, into the woods. Gavin, however, stayed where he was. 

“How do I know I can trust you?” They both stopped and turned around. Michael looked perplexed, and Ray looked like Gavin made a stupid joke. 

“Are you fucking serious right now?” Michael asked angrily, walking towards Gavin, who took some steps back. Michael could be really scary sometimes, even though he was smaller than Gavin. “After all I did for you, you don’t trust us?” 

“Well, I’m not asking for your help, am I?!”

Michael pushed Gavin, until he was cornered in against the tree. “Gavin. You were the one who fell down and injured yourself. You were the one who only sat at the fishing station, a skill you have already perfected, for fuck’s sake! You were the one who was helpless. You were the one who was getting killed, but I stopped it. I did. I did not need your help. I helped you. A Career helped someone who got the fucking ass score of a two. But hey, if you’re not asking for my help, I suppose I should just get going, then, shouldn’t I?”

“Well, no, wait-”

“I’m not going to kill you now, but the next time I see you, you’re fucking dead.” Michael had to give Gavin another shove before turning away. Gavin had to admit, he was a bit scared. He hadn’t meant to offend Michael.

The Careers just disappeared into the darkness between the trees, when he suddenly heard yelling coming from their direction. Immediately turning into defense-mode, Gavin grabbed an arrow. Then he saw the knives Ray dropped on the ground earlier, and ran towards them. He grabbed them on the exact moment he saw his own attacker. It was a huge, bearded dude, holding a sword. Despite him having a beard, Gavin did not recognize him as Jack. He had not noticed someone else in the training area had a beard too, though.

Because Gavin was still low on the ground, he could grab the knives easily, but the dude swung his sword at him. The swing had so much force that it made Gavin doubt if he was going to survive this, but he managed to evade it. Beard Guy was obviously a lot stronger than him, but Gavin was faster. Maybe he could tire his opponent out. Gavin didn’t have the moves Ray had, though, with his fancy Career-ish somersaults. 

When Beard Guy struck, Gavin evade it. That was his ideal plan: evade and wait. But Beard Guy was shoving Gavin in an area he didn’t know. Gavin cursed at himself for not searching the area before setting up camp. 

Suddenly, Beard Guy looked behind Gavin, and grinned. Gavin had no time to look behind him, yet he still stepped backwards. He didn’t feel his foot standing on the ground. Instead, he didn’t feel anything, and fell. 

His back hit something what felt like concrete, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. Too late he realised he had landed in water, and in panic he tried to get a hold of something. He didn’t know what he grabbed, but it was not something he could hold on to. After one or two seconds, he remembered he should open his eyes. At first, he was confused if he was looking up or down, but then he saw moonlight. 

Already close to the surface, it only took a bit of swimming before he could feel the cold air on his face. He coughed heavily, trying to get rid of the water he had breathed into his lungs. When breathing got easier, he tried to swim ashore. When he lied down on the ground, relieved he had survived that, he remembered Beard Guy. 

With watery eyes, he saw a huge person walking over to him. Having let go of his knives in the water, he had nothing to attack Beard Guy with. But then realised he was still holding the thing he grabbed in the water, he looked at what it was he was holding. When he saw the black dots on the green skin, he cursed loudly, and threw it towards Beard Guy. 

When the creeperfish exploded, Gavin tried to search for his knives. Thankfully, he saw one of them lying on shallow ground in the water. He grabbed it as fast as he could, before Beard Guy was up again. 

“You’re fucking dead!” Beard Guy yelled, and then charged towards Gavin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for any (spelling/grammar) mistakes in this chapter. I was in a hurry to post this.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, if you like this story and would like me to continue it, I'd love to have some feedback!


End file.
